Human Resource Management

1. Personalities and emotions can play a large role in labor- management negotiations. If the personalities are similar it can cause the negotiations to go quicker and smoother. On the other hand, if personalities clash, then it can cause the negotiations to be long and drawn out. When the personalities clash there can be a lot of arguments and quarrels that are a result in the two sides not agreeing. But when the two sides have similar personalities the arguments may be short lived and the quarrels may not happen. As with emotions, if the emotions are high there can be more tension built up between the two parties in the negotiation. Neither of the sides wants to seem weak and that can cause the emotions on both sides to go higher. In the article, it was stated that the hockey commissioner was willing to consider a counteroffer of $45 million, but the players union refused it. At this point the emotions were high and both sides did not want to compromise on what the hockey commissioner had offered, especially not after the take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum was proposed to the players union.

2. Cooperation between the players union and the owners could have averted canceling the reminder of the 2005 hockey season by causing less tension between the two sides and being able to reach an agreement. In the article it stated that the players wanted a $49 million cap per team where the owners wanted a $42.5 million cap per team. If the owners and players were more willing to cooperate in the negotiation and the owners did not present the take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum they would have been able to reach a middle ground that could have benefited both sides. One of my close friends is a huge hockey fan and I can remember clearly that he was very upset about the 2005 hockey season getting cancelled. He was complaining that the two sides (players union and owners) were extremely stupid for not trying to cooperate with each other to reach an agreement and resolve the issue....